Summary: Lot, a righteous man, lingering in Sodom - the result of a life making bad choices. Choices have consequences. How you choose determines the course of your life and your character.

How in the world did Lot, a righteous man, wind up in such a situation – lingering in Sodom having to be dragged out of the city by God? Lot did not get to where he was overnight. He traveled down a gradual slope over a number of years making a number of wrong choices and very costly terrible decisions. Lot was not initially guilty of deliberate disobedience. But the choices he made let to the ruination of his home. Choices have consequences. How you choose determines the course of your life and your character. As we consider Lot’s decisions, ask yourself, “Am I guilty of making similar mistakes?”

I. He made what the world would call a wise business decision

A. Genesis 13:1-10 “Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord. Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land. So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.” And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar.

B. The Bible tells us that the valley of Siddim was “well watered” – Heb. Kallah Masqeh – or completely irrigated. Excavations of the area give evidence that barley, wheat, grapes, figs, lentils, flax, chickpeas, broadbeans, dates and olives were grown in the valley.

C. Genesis 13:11-12 “Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. 12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom.”

D. Lot wanted the best in life. From a natural point of view, if we are honest we cannot blame Lot. Don’t we want the best? Isn’t that what we are looking for? The best working conditions for the best salary, the best car for the money we have to spend, the best home we can afford, in a community with good schools and services. In itself wanting good things in life is not wrong.